Thursday, 20 October 2016

I wanted to write a cohesive post but editing all my back up posts was overwhelming. Alas, I could only come up with this post as I have jet lag again and my body is in shock from the cold after getting used to sunny weather for nearly a month in Korea.

My family worry about me when I start taking pictures of what is mundane to them.

Take this hand dryer / infrared steriliser for instance.

I think my out of town hick ways embarrass them sometimes.

I hope this catches on in London.

In the spirit of trying to get into shape but have fun while at it, I tried aerial yoga which works your body in a different way than any other exercise. I did have fun learning new muscle memories but don't think I will keep it up in London.

Globalisation does indeed make jet lag the main reminder that you aren't in the proverbial Kansas anymore and yet there are those little touches that make you realise that you are in a different place.

Prada bags are being sold on TV which I found odd but then I was reminded of Net a Porter so I must be more open minded.

Autumn in Korea and most of East Asia is absolutely glorious.

But the cosmos flower fields of Korea are synonymous with fall.

We went to a park that was the former city dump of my youth - there were signs saying to be careful because of all the fumes due to the garbage underneath.

My family gave me a proper tutorial in making the national dish of kimchi.

There are so many different types but we went through a simple recipe of radish kimchi.

Koreans are so healthy and manage to keep trim considering how much they eat and I am sure kimchi is part of the reason.

It wa great catching up with old school friends.

Any Seoulite who were and are expats will tell you how central the Hyatt hotel is to them.

The airport in Seoul was voted one of the best in the world and the shopping rivalled any world class shopping centre.

I saw these traditional brass dinnerware with lids to keep rice and soup warm.

I would have bought this monkey print based on a calligraphy painting but it wasn't for sale.

I am planning to do a Korean beauty post as I learned a few more tips this trip.

I bought so many sheet masks because in Korea the latest motto is one day/one sheet mask.

I just adore tagging along with anyone who is looking for a flat.

Never gets boring.

It is like art and science and math coming to life.

I nearly froze to death but it was such an emotional reunion seeing these two doggies the other day.

I really do hope to catch up on blogging as I didn't end up posting as much as I would have liked.

Did you see instagram is now doing a Facebook and I got an email the other day suggesting that I should follow my brother's former flatmate from a decade ago, my builder I fired more than a decade ago, a friend of a friend who I find incredibly boring, and the mother of one of my husband's god children.

For that reason, I have put my Instagram account on private. But is it all a futile exercise?

I am going to be a spoil sport and not engage in any Halloween activities but look forward to all of yours x

Tuesday, 4 October 2016

BBC showed a new adaptation of War and Peace which I missed out on as I was away on a trip. ON my flight over to Korea, the flight had all 6 episodes and thought this would be my chance to get through the story that was only 2000 iPhone pages "read'.

And yet, I was utterly engrossed and certain names rang a bell and I recalled there was a war going on somewhere and things starting falling into place. I should have fallen asleep to start adjusting to the new time zone and yet Napoleon wouldn't let up. I was so worried about each and every character up till now even though I know they are ostensibly all dead.

I can see why people would want to reread the book as I am going to do so as well. But this is a book or rather TV adaptation that if I had seen as a teenager I would have moved to Russia the first chance I got.

Jet lag never gets easier and I am still exhausted nearly 2 weeks on but I am enjoying the seasonal fruits which are unparalleled to any fruit anywhere.

I am trying to store up some Vitamin D stores for my return to the British winter and going on gentle hikes to the local hill.

A retiree was carving traditional totem poles to line the hiking paths. Korea is always striving forward that only old people and foreigners appreciate these reminders of a more tribal history.

But back to present day Seoul, I am amazed at the gizmos a public hiking trail is equipped with.

The picture below is a air hose to blow away dust from your shoes and trousers.

My grandmother's dog is a sweetheart and always comes to nap with me.

My family did some replanting of a cactus plant that was growing like crazy so we went and transplanted cuttings.

This noodle dish with dumplings is a Korean Chinese dish that was brought over a century ago when the Shanghainese fled. It is one of my top 5 dishes in the world full stop and unfortunately only really properly made in Korea.

The bakeries in Seoul are on another level -

London despite its bread consumption has a terrible choice of bakeries - this is a half bread/half brioche type of loaf glazed with condensed milk.

Out of this world phenomenal.

I went to the hairdressers as I would prefer to do these type of errands without rushing.

There were cultural differences that I might write about on a future post but one thing I think hairdressers should learn from Korea is the lap pillow.

I had seen these lap pillows but never used them myself but they offered me it and it is almost an ergonomic tool for your arms to rest and there is a comfort of weight on your lap that is stabilising. Hard to explain but you have to try it!